KakaoTV has jumped on the drama train in the past year, even partnering with Netflix on dramas such as Lovestruck in the City. Similarly, A Love So Beautiful (or directly translated to To Us Who Were Beautiful) is another of these Netflix Originals. More of a short form web drama with each episode being 30 minutes or less, this drama is based on a 2017 Chinese drama of the same name, which in turn was based on Zhao Qianqian's novel To Our Pure Little Beauty. This coming-of-age romcom focuses on the time-old trope of high school romance and follows the growth of our leads into adulthood. Starring WEi’s Kim Yo-han in his drama debut as male lead CHA HEON and So Ju-yeon (Dr. Romantic 2, Lovestruck in the City) as female lead SHIN SOL-I, I'm intrigued to see where this drama brings us, especially since I'm a sucker for romcoms. Let's dive in.
INITIAL THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS (SPOILER ALERT)
I actually thought this drama would have the leads as high schoolers in the present day (2020/2021) and exclusively revolve around their high school days but as it turns out, they were actually in high school in 2006 and are adults right now. The drama will depict how our leads navigate their love stories as they go into adulthood. Female lead Sol-i is cheerful and bubbly, contrasting with male lead Cha Heon, who's reserved and quiet. The pair are neighbours and if it wasn't obvious enough, Sol-i has a huge crush on Heon, although he initially doesn't seem to reciprocate her feelings. She tries all sorts of ways and means to get Heon to notice her romantic advances, biking with him to school or just following him around in general. It's a very puppy dog crush kind of deal and is very typical of a high school drama setting.
Through discussions with her best friend, third male lead JEONG JIN-HWAN [THE MAN BLK's Jeong Jin-hwan (Level Up, Soul Mechanic)], she decides to write a love letter to Heon with Jin-hwan's guidance. He considers himself a love letter expert, having written many rather than receiving them in the past. Jin-hwan's also kind of a loser, with episode 1 already showing him being bullied by some upperclassmen who intercept his love letter to a senior girl. Most unfortunate but luckily he gets saved by no-nonsense second female lead KANG HA-YEONG [Jo Hye-joo (Search: WWW, Memorist)], who stands up for Jin-hwan and drags him away from the bullying. It's made pretty clear to us that Ha-yeong is smitten for Jin-hwan and we see her being somewhat jealous of Sol-i's close friendship with him. After this incident, Jin-hwan also starts to fall for Ha-yeong and I think this relationship is going to be quite interesting to see going forth from here, especially since she's clearly more alpha than him.
Now you might be wondering, I've mentioned our leads as well as a third male lead and a second female lead. Where's our second male lead? Well, no drama love triangle would be complete without one so enter WOO DAE-SEONG [Yeo Hoe-hyun (Short, Leverage)], a competitive swimmer who has just transferred to the same school as the rest of our leads. He's very different from Heon, being more extroverted and open about his emotions. As of episode 1, he starts to treat Sol-i as a friend, endearingly referring to her as his "brother" but there are a few scenes where we see him try to stand up for her, evidence of his budding attraction for Sol-i. Seeing how these two male leads have completely opposing personalities, it's definitely going to be intriguing to see them vie for Sol-i's attention in a very typical high school romance.
By the end of episode 1, we see that Heon does have feelings for Sol-i, trying to stand up for her in his own way and showing affection for her when she's unaware but because of his awkward nature, he acts very distant because he doesn't know how to express his feelings. In general, the romance aspect of this drama thus far seems to follow a very classic K-drama trend. The optimistic female lead chases after a seemingly cold male lead while a friendly second male lead also vies for her attention. We're not treading into new territory here but I think it'll still be very fun to watch, especially if you love dramas of the romcom genre. Right before this drama, Lovestruck in the City already showed us just how adorable So Ju-yeon can be and if episode 1 is anything to go by, I think she'll be equally as cute throughout. Her youthful demeanour coupled with her tiny frame lets her play a very convincing high schooler and I think her interactions with the other characters will be very engaging. As for Kim Yo-han, I've never seen him in any capacity before because I didn't watch Produce X 101, I didn't follow X1 and now I don't follow WEi. In that way, I'm being introduced to him as an actor rather than an idol so we'll see which role he's better suited to by the end of the series.
Like I said at the start of this post, this drama is really more of a "high budget" web series than a "proper" TV drama, what with its short episode length plus the general vibe of the series. I mentioned this with Lovestruck in the City but I think that in future, these kinds of dramas might be the way to go forward with K-drama. Even if there're many episodes (like how this one has 24 episodes), shorter episodes will capture viewers' attention more and make them keep wanting more. It also works well for these kinds of high school romcoms because the cheesy and fuzzy nature of these dramas might be better suited for short episodes. I don't know that's just my two cents on the matter. At any rate, I hope you'll join me and our leads on this journey as they try and find A Love So Beautiful.
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